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U S Committee on pensions - 
I^eport ]r«t.l4,19l2 



Seifcvice 



Pension 




Glass_il£lZl. 



Book. 






Calendar No. 303. 



'%F^:Sr} SENATE (R-o- 



SERVICE PENSION 



.T 



REPORT 

OF THE 

COMMITTEE ON PENSIONS 

TOGETHER WITH THE 

VIEWS OF A MINORITY 

ON 



H. R. 1 



AN ACT GRANTING A SERVICE PENSION TO CERTAIN 

DEFINED VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR 

AND THE WAR WITH MEXICO 



^ 



PRESENTED BY MR. McCUMBER 
February 14, 1912.— Ordered to be printed 



WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1912 



t i 



!; Calendar No. 303. 



62d Congress, { SENATE. \ Report 

2d Session. \ \ No. 355. 






SERVICE PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS 
OF THE CIVIL WAR. 



February 14, 1912. — Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. McCuMBER, from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the 

following 

REPORT. 

[To accompany H. R. 1.] 

The Committee on Pensions, to whohi was referred the bill (H. R. 1) 
entitled ' 'An act granting a service pension to certain defined veterans 
of the Civil War and the War with Mexico," beg leave to report the 
same back with an amendment as follows: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the 
following: 

Section 1. That any person who Bervcd ninety days or more in the military or naval 
service of the United States during the Civil War, who has been honorably discharged 
therefrom, and who has reached the age of sixty-two years or over, shall, upon making 
proof of such facts,* according to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the 
Interior may provide, be placed upon the pension roll and be entitled to receive a 
pension as follows: In case such person has reached the age of sixty-two years and 
served ninety days, thirteen dollars per month; six months, thirteen dollars and fifty 
cents per month; one year, fourteen dollars per month; one and a half years, fourteen 
dollars and fifty cents per month; two years, fifteen dollars per month; two and a half 
years, fifteen dollars and fifty cents per month; three years or over, sixteen dollars per 
month. In case such person has reached the age of sixty-six years and served ninety 
days, fifteen dollars per montli; six months, fifteen dollars and fifty cents per month; 
one year, sixteen dollars per month; one and a half years, sixteen dollars and fifty cents 
per month; two years, seventeen dollars per month; two and a half years, seventeen 
dollars and fifty cents per month; three years or over, eighteen dollars per month. 
In case such person has reached the age of seventy years and served ninety days, 
eighteen dollars per month; six months, nineteen dollars per month; one year, twenty 
dollars per month; one and a half years, twenty-one dollars per month; two years, 
twenty-two dollars per month; two and a half years, twenty-three dollars per month; 
three years or over, twenty-four dollars per month. In case such person has reached 
the age of seventy-five years and served ninety days, twenty-one dollars per month; 
six months, twenty-two dollars and fifty cents per month; one year, twenty-four 
dollars per month; one and a half years, twenty-five dollars and fifty cents per month; 
two years, twenty-seven dollars per month; two and a half years, twenty-eight dollars 
a-ud fifty cents per month; three years or over, thirty dollars per month. 



2 PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS. 

That any person who has served sixty days or more in the military or naval service 
of the United States in the War with Mexico and has been honorably discharged 
therefrom shall, upon making like proof of such service, be entitled to receive a 
pension of thirty dollars per month. 

All of the aforesaid pensions shall commence from the date of filing of the applica- 
tions in the Biireau of Pensions after the passage and approval of this act: Provided, 
That pensioners who are sixty-two years of age* or over and who are now receiving 
pensions imder existing laws or whose claims are pending in the Bureau of Pensions 
may, by application to the Commissioner of Pensions, in such form as he may pre- 
scribe, receive the benefits of this act; and nothing herein contained shall prevent 
any pensioner or person entitled to a pension from prosecuting his claim and receiving 
a pension under any other general or special act: Provided, That no person shall receive 
a pension under any other law at the same time or for the same period that he is 
receiving a pension under the provisions of this act: Provided further, That no person 
who is now receiving or shall hereafter receive a greater pension under any other 
general or special law than he would be entitled to receive under the provisions 
herein shall be pensionable under this act. 

Sec. 2. That rank in the service shall not be considered in applications filed 
hereunder. 

Sec. 3. That no agent, attorney, or other person engaged in preparing, presenting, 
or prosecuting any claim under the provisions of this act shall, directly or indirectly, 
contract for, demand, receive, or retain for such services in preparing, presenting, or 
prosecuting such claim a sum greater than five dollars, which sura shall be payable 
only after the allowance of the claim and upon the order of the Commissioner of Pen- 
sions, out of the amount allowed, and by the pension agent making payment of such 
pension, and no agent, attorney, or other person shall demand or receive, directly or 
indirectly, any compensation in advance of such allowance, or other compensation 
than herein prescribed; and any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this 
section, or who shall wrongfully withhold from a pensioner or claimant the whole or 
any part of a pension or claim allowed or due such pensioner or claimant imder thia 
act, or shall wrongfully withhold any affidavits or other proofs in support of a claim, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall, for each 
and every offense, be fined not excelling five hundred dollars or be imprisoned at 
hard labor not exceeding two years, or both, in the discretion of the court: Provided, 
That no greater fee than two dollars shall be allowed or paid in any claim for increase 
of pension under this act. 

Sec. 4. That the Commissioner of Pensions shall make at the time of submitting his 
next annual report a separate report for each county of each State, Territory, or Dis- 
trict, containing a statement or table which shall contain the names, lengths of service, 
monthly rates of payment, and residences of all pensioners of the United States; and 
shall thereafter, as said annual reports are submitted, make separate reports similar 
in all respects, except that such subsequent reports shall contain only those added to 
the pension roll during the fiscal year for which each annual report is made. 

In the amendment proposed by your committee is involved the 
prime purpose of our pension system. A word upon that system and 
its purpose may therefore be proper. < 

Prior to 1890 all pension legislation relative to the survivors of the ( 
Civil War recognized only specific disabihties incurred in hne of dutv. ^ 

By the act of June 27, 1890, the requirement that a disability should ( 
be of service origin was abandoned, and there was substituted in its 
stead incapacity to perform manual labor, whether such incapacity 
was due to service or otherwise. This act provided a pension for 
such disabihty ranging from $6 to $12 per month. It required but a 
service of 90 days and was the first purely service pension legislation 
applied to the Civil War veterans. 

The estabUshiug of grades of disabihty to perform manual lab^r 
under this law was difficult and unsatisfactory, and as the age of th^ 
claimant advanced the difficulty increased. It finally became necesv 
sary to measure the disabihty oy the age test, and Executive Order 
No. 78 was issued in March of 1904. This order provided that in the 
adjudication of pension claims under the act of June 27, 1890, age 



PENSIONS FOR CERIAIN DEFINED SOLJ)IERS. 3 

should be taken into consideration in determining disability; that 
at the age of 62 the soldier should be considered to be one-half dis- 
abled for the performance of manual labor, at the age of 65 two- 
thirds disablea, at the age of 68 five-sixths disabled, and at the age 
of 70 totally disabled and should receive for said disabilities $6, S8, 
$10, and $12 per month, respectively. This order was afterwards 
enacted into our pension legislation and was the forerunner of the 
age standard in subsequent legislation. 

The act of June 27, 1890, also provided a pension of S8 per month 
for all widows whose marriage had taken place prior to that date and 
(as amended by act of May 9, 1900) whose net mcome was not above 
$250 per annum. 

There was no material change in our general pension laws from 
June 27, 1890, until February 6, 1907, a period of nearly 17 years. 

By the act of February 6, 1907, a very great advance step in 
broadening and liberaUzing our pension laws was taken. Prior to 
that time the youngest and the oldest veteran were treated ahke 
except as their pensions were graded by this order, No. 78. 

By the act of February 6, 1907, we recognized advancing years as 
bringing with them increasing disabihties. Up to and including this 
period pensions w^ere granted upon the assumption that the claimant 
v/as disabled and that the Government in its gratitude for his great 
services in its time of need should extend the hand of assistance. 

The act of February 6, 1907, was solely an age pension and granted 
pensions to all who had served 90 days as follows: At the age of 62 
years, $12 per month; 70 years, $15 per month; and 75 years, $20 
per month. 

The act of April 19, 1908, abolished the income provision, wliich 
had always been of questionable propriety, and the pension of every 
widow included in its provisions was mcreased to $12 per month. 

By 'the acts of February 6, 1907, and April 19, 1908, the services of 
the physical and the financial examiner were discontinued. Industry 
and economy were no longer penalized; and the soldier of the most 
extended hospital record had no advantage over him of the most 
extensive field record. 

No pension act has ever given such general satisfaction as the act 
of February 6, 1907 ; and yet tliis act has of late been subject to some 
criticism. In aU of our past pension laws the 90-day soldier stands 
exactly on the same footing as the four-year soldier. House bill 1 
seeks to remedy this by the enactment of a purely service-pension 
law. 

From careful inquiry your committee believes that whatever 
degree of popularity this bill has obtained is due more to the amount 
carried by it than to the basis upon which the amount carried is 
distributed. 

No standard can be adopted that will operate with exact justice 
to each and every soldier. Many soldiers of short service were 
hurried immediately into the desperate warfare which marked the 
last year of the campaign. 

If a pension should be granted based upon the severity of the 
hardships or sufferings which the soldier endured in each case, there 
would be as many different amounts allowed as there are names on 
the pension roll. 



4 PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS. 

We may properly ask here, What is the fundamental idea back of 
pension legislation? We believe we express the concensus of the 
public idea in our answer, that it is national gratitude. This grati- 
tude seeks, in our pension laws, the most proper mode of expression. 
Its first and its most natural impulse is toward the relief of suffering 
and destitution. It recognizes that destitution flows from disability. 

If our pension, legislation had no deeper significance or sentiment 
than a sort of moral obligation to pay for services a fixed rate per 
month, then a pension based solely upon length of service might 
properly be enacted. But if such legislation springs from the senti- 
ment we have indicated, then it is certain that length of service 
should not be the sole standard in fxxing the rate in any particular 
case. 

We do not claim that a pension, varied in amount according to the 
length of service, does not harmonize with the spirit that is back of 
all pension legislation. We simply claim that making it the sole 
standard smacks too much of the idea of hire. Other things being 
equal, it may ver}^ properly be said that the longer the service given 
in defense of the country the greater should be the gratitude of that 
country. The committee agree that we will more nearly approxi- 
mate exact justice, and more nearly measure out to each soldier 
that sum which his services entitle him to receive from a given appro- 
priation, by adopting both standards, or a double standard which 
shall recognize both advancing age and length of service. 

A resolution adopted by the Grand Army of the Republic at its 
last encampment indicates clearly the tenacity with which that 
organization holds to the principle of a pension law wliich recog- 
nizes the disability of age. 

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Pensions prepared a 
large number of separate propositions with varying combinations 
of the age and service standards and submitted each proposition to 
the Interior Department to obtain the added cost of pension legisla- 
tion, and also reciuested of the department an estimate of the added 
cost of House bill 1. 

The eleventh proposition, containing the double standard, wliich 
was introduced in the form of a bill in Senate bill 4320, in tabulated 
form, is as follows: 

Eleventh pmpo^-ition. 



Age. 



90 days. 


1 year. 


2 years. 


3 years. 


$13 


$14 


$15 


$16 


15 


Ifi 


17 


IS 


18 


20 


22 


24 


21 


24 


27 


3U 



4 years. 



62 years 
b6 years 
70 years 
75 years 



PENSIONS rOK CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIEBS. 5 

The report of the added cost of this proposition, in years, is as 
follows : 

Report on eleventh -proposition. 



Age. 










Annual 


Number of 


Present 


Proposed 


increase 


pensioners. 


rate. 


rate. 


per pen- 
sioner. 


32,708 


$12 


$13 


$12 


27,807 


12 


14 


24 


25, 186 


12 


15 


36 


27,921 


12 


16 


48 


36, 966 


12 


15 


36 


31,427 


12 


16 


48 


28, 465 


12 


17 


60 


31,556 


12 


18 


72 


31,590 


15 


18 


36 


26,857 


15 


20 


60 


24,325 


15 


22 


84 


20, 967 


15 


24 


108 


19,831 


20 


21 


12 


16,860 


20 


24 


48 


15,270 


20 


27. 


84 


10, 929 


20 


30 


120 


420 6Go 

















Total In- 
crease i)er 
annum. 



90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over 

90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over 

90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over \ . 

90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over 



Total. 




22,191,780 



Average annual increase per pensioner 

Approximate increase in disbursements for pensions: 

First year 

Second year 

Third year 

Fourth year 

Fifth year 



$52.76 

10,650,000.00 
30,500,000.00 
19,500,000.00 
17,500,000.00 
16,000,000.00 



This bill (S. 4320), modified by divisions of six months' periods of 
service, is the one adopted by the committee as a substitute for H. R. 1. 
The thirteenth proposition submitted is as follows: 

Thirteenth proposition. 



Age. 



90 days. 



1 year. 



2 years. 



3 years. 



4 years. 



62 years 
66 years 
70 years 
76 years 



$12 
15 
18 
21 



$15 
18 
21 
24 



$18 
21 
24 
27 



$21 
24 
27 
30 



6 PENSIONS FOB CEETAIN DEFINED SOLDIEES. 

The report on the thirteenth proposition is as follows: 
Report on thirteenth proposition. 



Ago. 



Length of service. 



1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over . 
90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over . 
90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over . 
90 days 

1 year 

2 years 

3 years and over. 

Total 



Number 
of pen- 
sioners. 


Present 


Proposed 


Amnual 
increase 


rate. 


rate. 


per pen- 










27,807 


$12 


$15 


$36 


25,186 


12 


18 


72 


27,921 


12 


21 


108 


36,966 


12 


15 


36 


31,427 


12 


18 


72 


28,465 


12 


21 


108 


31,556 


12 


24 


144 


31,590 


15 


18 


36 


26,857 


15 


21 


72 


24,325 


15 


24 


108 


26,967 


15 


27 


144 


19,831 


20 


21 


12 


10, 860 


20 


24 


48 


15,270 


20 


27 


84 


16, 929 


20 


30 


12:) 


387,957 
















Total In- 
crease per 
annum. 



$1,001,052 
1,813,392 
3,015,468 
1,330,776 
2,262,744 
3,074,220 
4,544,004 
1,137,240 
1,933,704 
2,627,100 
3,883,248 
237,972 
809,280 
1,282,680 
2,031,480 

30,984,420 



Average annual increase per pensioner $79. 87 

Approximate increase in disbursements for pensions; 

First vear 15, 974. OTO. 00 

Secon d year 4 1 . 000 . 000. 00 

Third year 27.000,000.00 

A hearing was had on all of the general pension bills on January 
22, 1912, at wliich hearing the members of the committee on pensions 
of the Grand Army of the Repubhc testified. Prior to the giving of 
their testimony they had met and by resolution declared themselves 
in favor of the thirteenth proposition, and the testimony of each and 
all of these members supported the idea of the double standard. 

From the hearings and from a very considerable correspondence 
with veterans of the Civil War, it developed that while nearly all 
preferred the double standard, a very large number preferred to have 
divisions of six months rather than one year, as contemplated in 
these propositions. The tables were therefore rearranged in accord- 
ance with this idea and the eleventh proposition, as rearranged, was 
submitted as proposition No. 16, and is as follows: 

Sirffmlh proposition {eleventh modififfT). 



Age; 


90 days. 


6 months. 


1 year. 


IJ years. 


2 years. 


2i years. 


3 years 
and over. 


62 


$13.00 
15.00 
18.00 
21.00 


$13. 50 
15.50 
19.00 
22.50 


$14.00 
16.00 
20.00 
24.00 


$14.50 
16.50 
21.00 
25.50 


$15.00 
17.00 
22.00 
27.00 


$15.50 
17.50 
23.00 
28.50 


$16.00 


66 


18,00 


70 


24.00 


75 


30.00 







PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS, 

The report on the sixteenth proposition is as follows: 

Proposition No. 16. 



Ago. 



Length of service. 



90 days 

G months 

1 year 

U years 

2 years 

2\ years 

3 years and over. 

90 days 

6 months 

1 year 

IJ years 

2 years 

2.J jears 

3 vears and ovor. 

QO'days 

6 months 

1 year 

U years 

2'years 

2 J years 

3 years and over. 

90 days 

6 moriths 

1 year 

Ij" years 

2 years 

2i years 

3 years and over. 

Total 



Number of 
pensioners. 



•120,9(>o 



Present 
rate. 



$12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 



Proposed 
rate. 



S13.00 
13.50 
14.00 
14.50 
15.00 
15.50 
16.00 
15.00 
15.50 
16.00 
16.50 
17.00 
17.50 
18.00 
18.00 
19.00 
20.00 
21.00 
22.00 
23.00 
24.00 
21.00 
22.50 
24.00 
25.50 
27.00 
28.50 
30.00 



Annual 
increase 
per pen- 
sioner. 



Total increase 
per annum. 



$12.00 
18.00 
24.00 
30.00 
36.00 
42.00 
48.00 
36. 00 
42.00 
48.00 
54.00 
00.00 
66.00 
72.00 
36.00 
48.00 
60.00 
72.00 
84. 00 
96.00 

108. 00 
12.00 
30.00 
48.00 
66. 00 
84.00 

102. 00 

120.00 



$114,876.00 

416,430.00 

361,032.00 

382,920.00 

262,584.00 

751,464.00 

1,340,208.00 

389,484.00 

1,098,132.00 

816,096.00 

779,004.00 

494,580.00 

1,334,052.00 

2,272,032.00 

333,756.00 

1,075,440.00 

874,140.00 

889,992.00 

593,376.00 

1,663,488.00 

2,920,428.00 

69,648.00 

420,810.00 

437,808.00 

510, 774. 00 

371,448.00 

1,106,496.00 

2,031,480.00 



24,112,578.00 



Average annual increase per pensioner $57. 27 

Approximate increase in disbursements for pensions: 

First vear 11.454.000.00 

Second year 33. 000. 000. 00 

Third vear 21.000.000.00 

Fourth year 19,200.000.00 

Fifth year 17,400,000.00 

The thirteenth proposition as rearranged was submitted as the 
eighteenth proposition and is as follows: 



Eighteenth proposition {thirteenth modified). 



A^n. 


90 days. 


6 months. 


lyear. 


IJ years. 


2 years. 


2\ years. 


3 years 
and over. 


62 


$12.00 
14.00 
16.00 
20.00 


$13. 50 
15.50 
17.50 
21.50 


$15.00 
17.00 
19.00 
23.00 


$16. 50 
18.50 
20.50 
24.50 


$18.00 
20.00 
22.00 
26.00 


$19.50 
21.50 
23.50 
28.00 


$21. 00 


60 


23.00 


70 


25.00 


76 


30.00 







8 PENSIONS FOR CEETATN DEFINED SOLDIERS. 

The report on the eighteenth proposition is as follows: 

Proposition No. 18. 



Age. 



Length of service. 



Number of 
pensioners. 



Present 
rate. 



Proposed 
rate. 



Annual 
increase 
per pen- 
sioner. 



Total in- 
crease per 
annum. 



6 months 

1 year 

IJ years 

2 years 

2^ years 

3 years and over . 

90 days 

6 months 

1 year 

IJ years 

2 years 

2i years 

3 years and over. 

90 days 

6 months 

1 year 

1^ years 

2"years 

21 years... 

3 years and over. 
6 months 

1 year 

1 J years , 

2 years , 

2J years , 

3 years and over. 



23, 135 
15,043 
12,764 

7,294 
17,892 
27, 921 
10,819 
26, 146 
17,002 
14,426 

8,243 
20, 222 
31,556 

9,271 
22, 405 
14,569 
12,361 

7,064 
17,328 
27,041 
14,027 

9,121 

7,739 

4,422 
10,848 
16,929 



$12. 00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
12.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
15.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 
20.00 



$13. 50 
15.00 
16.50 
18.00 
19.50 
21.00 
14.00 
15.50 
17.00 
18.50 
20.00 
21.50 
23.00 
16.00 
17.50 
19.00 
20.50 
22.00 
23.50 
25.00 
21.50 
23.00 
24.50 
26. 00 
28.00 
30.00 



$18. 00 
36.00 
54.00 
72.00 
90.00 

108. 00 
24.00 
42.00 
60.00 
78.00 
96.00 

114.00 

132. 00 
12.00 
30.00 
48.00 
66.00 
84.00 

100. 00 

120. 00 
18.00 
36.00 
54.00 
72.00 
96.00 

120. 00 



$416, 

541, 

689, 

525, 

1,610, 

3,015, 

259, 

1,098, 

1,020, 

1,125, 

791, 

2,305, 

4,165, 

111, 

672, 

699, 

815, 

593, 

1,767, 

3,244, 

252, 

328, 

417, 

318, 

1,041, 

2,031, 



430.00 
548.00 
256.00 
168.00 
280.00 
468.00 
656. 00 
132. 00 
120. 00 
228. 00 
328. 00 
308.00 
392.00 
252. 00 
150.00 
312. 00 
826.00 
376. 00 
456. 00 
920. 00 
486. 00 
356.00 
906.00 
384.00 
408.00 
480.00 



Total. 



405, 588 



29,857,026.00 



Average increase per pensioner 

Approximate increase in disbursements for pensions: 

First year 

Second year 

Third year 

Fourth year 

Fifth year 



$73.61 

14,722,000.00 
40,373,907.00 
26, 184, 034. 00 
24, 000, 000. OO 
22,000,000.00 



PENSIONS FOE CEKTAIN DEFINED SOLDIEKS. y 

The report on the added cost to the pension appropriation, by rea- 
son of enactment of H. R. 1 as it passed the House, is as follows: 



Lenj,'th of service. 


Number of 
pensioners. 


Present 
rate per 
month. 


Proposed 
rate per 
month. 


Annual 
increase 
per pen- 
sioner. 


Total in- ■ 
crease ■per 
annum. 




143 
205 


$6 
8 


$15 
15 


$108 
84 


$15,444 




17,220 




1S5 


10 


15 


CO 


11,100 




20,422 


12 


15 


36 


735,192 




702 


14 


15 


12 


8,424 




124 
18.3 


6 
8 


20 
20 


168 
144 


20, 832 




26,352 




165 


10 


20 


120 


19, 800 




18,234 


12 


20 


96 


1,750,464 




627 


14 


20 


72 


45,144 




8,255 


15 


20 


60 


495,300 




189 


16 


20 


48 


9,072 




1,908 


17 


20 


36 


68,688 




206 
305 


6 
8 


25 
25 


228 
204 


46,968 




62, 220 




275 


10 


25 


180 


49,500 




30,391 


12 


25 


156 


4,740,996 




1,044 


14 


25 


132 


137, 808 




13,758 


15 


25 


120 


1,650,960 




315 


16 


25 


108 


34,020 




3,180 


17 


25 


96 


305,280 




8,971 


20 


25 


60 


538,260 




182 


22 


25 


36 


6,552 




3, 893 


24 


25 


12 


46,716 




1,169 
1,732 


6 
8 


30 
30 


28S 
264 


336,672 




457,248 




1,.564 


10 


30 


240 


375,360 




172,621 


12 


30 


216 


37,285,136 




5,9.J2 


14 


30 


192 


1,138,944 




78, 148 


15 


30 


180 


14,066,640 




1,787 


16 


30 


168 


300,216 




18,063 


17 


30 


156 


2,817,828 




'52,351 


20 


30 


120 


6,282,120 




1,036 


22 


30 


96 


99,456 




22,113 


24 


30 


72 


1,592,136 




958 


25 


30 


60 


57, 480 


Total 


471,3.36 








75,651,548 













' Includes 1,398 survivors of the War with Mexico. 



$160. 50 



Average mcrease per annum per ixinsioner is 

Approximate increase in disbursements for pensions: 

First year 32,000,000.00 

Second year 86,500,000.00 

Third year 59,000,000.00 

Fourth year 54,500,000.00 

Fifthyear 50,000,000.00 

Sixth year 45,500,000.00 

The last official estimate of national income and expense for the 
year ending June 30, 1913, gives us a balance of income over expense, 
exclusive of Panama Canal disbursements, of about $30,000,000. 
Assuming that we will be able to maintain the relation of income to 
expense during the following year, with the practice of a little more 
rigid economy we could probably expend $33,000,000 in addition to 
the present cost of pensions for the year ending June 30, 1914, without 
the necessity of issuing bonds to cover the increased expenses. 

Your committee adopted the sixteenth proposition rather than the 
eighteenth because of our belief that we could increase our appropria- 
tion $33,000,000 without a bond issue. 

The cause of the second year's appropriation being so much greater 
than either the first or the third is that the bureau under ordinary 
conditions will handle about 200,000 appfications a year; and it is 



10 PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS. 

safe to say that 400,000 would be filed within the first year, and there- 
fore the second year would carry the arrears of about 200,000. Of 
course, this depends upon what time in the year the bill becomes a law. 
We believe that if we can pass this amended bill before the summer 
months the bureau will be able to handle more than 200,000 cases the 
first year. We will thereby increase the estimated additional cost for 
the first year several million dollars and decrease the second year's 
estimate an equivalent amount, and thus keep clearly within our 
income. 

Your committee, in reporting a bill which shall carry an additional 
average annual appropriation lor pensions during the next five years 
of $20,410,000 per year in the place of House bill 1 , which would require 
an additional average expenditure of $56,600,000 per annum, and 
which ignores what we regard as a very proper element in granting 
pensions, the disabilities of age, are animated by a desire to at afl 
times maintain a strong sentiment on the part of the public toward this 
increase, and further future increases oi pensions, and which senti- 
ment might, to some extent, at least, be jeopardized by advancing 
pension appropriations in a single bill, so rapidly as to necessitate 
a bond issue to meet its requirements. We believe that the interests 
of the soldiers will be better subserved, and that we shall in the end 
accomplish more for the comfort of the veterans of the Civil War if we 
shall advance step by step, keeping within the Government's income 
under economic administration. 

The provisions relating to the Mexican War veterans are the same 
as those contained in the House bill. 

The majority of your committee supported another amendment 
which recognizes the right of pension attorneys to represent their 
clients in cases where it was thought proper that a soldier claimant 
should be entitled to legal service, as indicated in section 3. The 
amendment is carefully guarded so that in no case can anything but 
a nominal charge be made. We believe that this amendment will in 
many instances be beneficial, and that in no case can it operate to do 
an injustice to any veteran. 

The majority of the committee deemed it advisable to further 
amend our general legislation with reference to publication of names 
of pensioners on the rolls as indicated in the foregoing amendment, 
section 4. 

As amended the committee report the bill favorably and recom- 
mend that it pass. 



Senate Report No. 355, Part 2, Sixty-second Congress, Second Session. 
SEE VICE PENSION. 



Fkbuiaky 14, 1912.— Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Curtis (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Shively, Mr. Poindexter, 
and Mr. Johnson), from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the 
following- 

VIEWS OF A MINORITY. 

[To accompany H. R. 1.] 

We, the undersigned, being a minority of the Senate Committee on 
Pensions, present this report after a careful consideration of the 
various pension bills or propositions which were presented to the 
committee. 

We hope each Senator will duly consider the two propositions 
pending before the Senate, to wit: House bill 1, better known as the 
Sherwood bill, and the Senate proposition, known as the Smoot sub- 
stitute, believing if they do the}^ will vote down the substitute and pass 
the Sherwood bill. 

There are many reasons why we favor the Sherwood bill. In the 
first place it does partial justice to a large number of Union soldiers 
who served one year and over, by giving them a dollar-u-day pension, 
and it will give an increase to a very large number of men who served 
less than one year, while the substitute will give a dollar a day to only 
those soldiers who have arrived at the age of 75 years and who had a 
service of three years and over. 

Under the Sherwood bill most of the pension examining boards 
could be done away with and fewer special examiners would be 
required. 

Under the Sherwood bill, after the new certificates are issued no 
expense will be incurred for the issuance of new certificates to those 
drawing })ension under it, but under the substitute new certificates 
must be issued as the pensioners below 75 years of age advance in 
years. 

The opposition to the Sherwood bill is based upon the ground that 
it will carry a large appropriation, but we do not believe it just to 
the Union soldiers to measure their service in dollars and cents. We 
believe they are entitled to liberal pensions regardless of the size of 
the appropriation. 

U 



12 PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS. 

But, after carefully considering the subject, we believe the esti- 
mates of the Pension Bureau as to the cost of the Sherwood bill are 
too high, because they are based on a report over 20 years old, while 
the figures given by Mr. Sherwood are based upon data taken from 
the records of the War Department. 

We believe that if the Sherwood bill is enacted into law many of 
those whose pensions will be increased to $30 per month and who 
are now inmates of soldiers' homes will return to their own homes 
and firesides. 

We believe its enactment into law will greitly decrease the requests 
for the introduction of private pension bills. While the substitute 
gives increases to each of the pensioners, yet we do not believe such 
increases are as large and substantial as they should be under all the 
circumstanceSe 

We ask j^ou, in considering this question, to remember the debt this 
Nation owes to the Union soldier; to remember that of that grand 
army of brave men who offered their lives to preserve the Union it is 
estimated that at least 36,000 will answer the last roll call this year, 
and to remember, further, that if anything is going to be done for 
them, now is the time to do it. 

We recommend the defeat of the substitute reported by a majority 
of the committee and ask for the passage of House bill 1, known as 
the Sherwood bill. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Charles Curtis. 
NoRRis Brown. 
Benj. F. Shively. 
Miles Poindexter. 
Charles F. Johnson. 



Senate Report No. 355, Part 3, Sixty-second Congress, Second Session. 
SERVICE PENSION. 



February 19, 1912. — Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Bryan, from the Committee on Pensions, submitted the following 

VIEWS. 

[To accompany H. R. 1.] 

This bill enjoys the unusual distinction of not having the support of 
a majority of the committee which reports it. 

Of the 14 members comprising- the committee 5 have signed a 
minority report because they prefer the House bill, and the Senator 
from Oklahoma, Mr. Gore, and myself are recorded as being opposed 
to both the bill reported by the committee and the House bill. 

The House bill recognizes service only. The bill reported by the 
committee combines age with length of service. 

The majority report complains that a service pension "smacks too 
much of the idea of hire." In the views of the minority, favoring the 
Sherwood bill, the idea of measuring military service by money is 
condemned. Yet that is exactlv the thing both bills, when analyzed, 
undertake to do. 

The central idea running through the hearings and through both 
reports is that we are engaged in paying a debt. 

If we owe the soldiers of the Civil War a debt that can be paid in 
money, then the theory of the Sherwood bill is correct. 

If mere enlistment for 90 days, regardless of actual service, to be 
more highly rewarded by "national gratitude" if the soldier enlisted 
at the age of '25 instead of at 20, ought to be the test, then the bill 
reported may be conceded to be correct in principle. 

Both of these ideas have already found expression in our pension 
legislation- -singly and in combination. It can not truthfully be said, 
measured by either or both of these standards, that this Government 
has failed in its obligation. 

Mr. Sanuiel S. Burdett, Past Commander in Chief of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, at the hearing before your Committee on Pen- 
sions made this statement: "If nothing else in our favor were ever 
done in our day, it never could be said, to-day or in any to-morrow, 
that the people of the United States were ungrateful to those who 
served them." 

13 



14 PENSIONS FOR CERTAIN DEFINED SOLDIERS. 

So, therefore, it is not the purpose of either the Sherwood bill or 
the bill reported, to establish any new principle. It is not a question 
of principle or of " national gratitude." It is purelj"^ a question of 
more money. A member of the legislative committee of the Grand 
Army of the Republic accurately expressed the ^'principle" involved 
in this bill in the following apt language : 

Of course, I think you will all concede, gentlemen, that No. 13 is a little better 
holdout than No. 11. Of course, I should favor that myself. It was unanimous 
with the committee of which I have the honor to be a member. 

If $150,000,000 per annum is not a sufficient expression of appreci- 
ation, would an additional annual appropriation of $25,000,000 make 
it so? If not, how much would? 

Confessedly, the only restraining influence upon the committee is 
the revenues of the Government, and so this bill is proposed upon 
the assumption that all these large professions about the reduction of 
our present tarifl^' laws are not meant to be kept. 

This bill undertakes to reconcile two irreconcilable elements, viz, 
age and length of service. Its incongruities are well illustrated by the 
statement of former Congressman Gardner, of Michigan, as follows: 

There were over 600,000, as I recall — I could refer to it specifically if necessary — 
that served three months or less — 90-day militia. * * * j pay to you what 1 
know to be a fact. While many of these men fought, and fought well, the great 
body of them simply went to man the forts, to release the three-year men that went 
to the front and did the shooting. That is a fact, gentlemen. Lots of these men 
never got the polish off their shoes. It is no disparagement to them. They did all 
they were called upon to do. They wore paper collars and ate soft bread. It was 
no fault of theirs. Ohio had how many regiments of that kind. Col. McElroy, that 
never lost a man? 

Mr. McElroy. Oh, quite a number of them never saw any fighting, and never 
heard a cannon. 

Mr. Gardner. Many of them never fired a gun. I say to you, gentlemen — and 
1 am willing to defend this proposition before any Grand Army gathering in the 
country — that the man who went to war and served only 90 days and received no 
permanent disability from wounds or anything resulting from his service is not en- 
titled to rank with the man who served two, three, or four years at the front. 

It is refreshing that if the bill must pass as reported the names of 
the pensioners will be made public. It is to be hoped that an aroused 
public sentiment may hereafter save t6 the meritorious and the needy 
pensioners the humiliation of making common cause with the undeserv- 
ing whose military service was at best nominal. 

If we would take thought of the people who have to pay pensions as 
well as of those who receive them, if we would limit payment to those 
who suffered injury because of service in the war and who are there- 
fore entitled to governmental aid, we would remedy the injustices now 
perpetrated in the name of patriotism. 

N. F. Bryan. 



omoRn flfl„s 



